Newbie Question

[bwaysteve]

I have a Cambo 8x10 and 360 Schneider.(usually at f22)
I am attempting to shoot people straight on 3/4 body and waist up.
At camera neutral focus goes out about half way down (especially if hands are in front or subject is holding something.)I assume I should add front tilt to get all in focus.
Once I have the shot composed,do I tilt and focus for the face and hope stopping down brings everything else in? I am not sure of the order.Thanks,Steve

[Rafael Garcia]

Steve: others are better qualified than I to answer, as I don't shoot portraits, I mainly shoot landscapes and architectural.

I compose, rough-focus, tilt and focus on the closer parts of the subject, then fine focus on the main part of the subject. If the focus differs I will focus in-between. Finally I close down the lens and inspect the GG with a loupe to see what is stopped down to focus. Generally both areas are.

Hope this helps.

[seepaert]

As far as available light permits, which might be very poor, I would try to focus with the lens stopped down. It would bring you much more certainty, especially when tilted, when depth of field effects are hard to predict. It might even cause you to adjust the tilt itself.

[Ralph Barker]

Steve, it sounds like you might be starting with the standards in the detent, neutral position, but tilting the whole camera for the initial rough composition. If you are tilting the entire camera, remember that the plane of sharp focus will also be tilted. You might try resetting the standards to plumb, before fine-tuning the composition and focus.

At portrait distances, there's not a whole lot of DOF to work with. So, deciding on the placement of the plane of sharp focus may vary with the pose, and what is important to keep relatively sharp.

You might also try using an auxiliary light to help with focusing, and then turn it off just prior to making the exposure. I often use a 650W Arri fresnel for this purpose, having the subject close their eyes during that time, since I usually use modified studio flash for the actual eposure, and the modeling lights just aren't bright enough for focusing.

[neil poulsen]

I wonder how the lighting setup affected the overall effect that he achieved with his disquieting type of portraiture. I'm sure that he was a master of lighting.

Some day, I'd like to get a copy of his book on the 60's. That was an interesting book.

[Gem Singer]

Steve,

As you know, the depth of field is very shallow with a 360 focal length lens at 3/4 portrait distance.

More distance between lens and subject will help to increase the DOF. However, not always practical.

Start by leveling the camera both horizontally and vertically. (You might need to use a slight amount of front rise in order to center the subject on the ground glass). With lens wide open, focus on the eyes.

To get the hands into sharp focus, use a tiny bit of forward tilt until they look sharp on the ground glass. Then, close down to f32. You might need to use more light, or a faster film, in order to shoot at that smaller aperture.

The principle is: "focus on the far, and tilt for the near". In this case, the eyes are the far, and hands are the near.

Just make sure that your subject doesn't move forward, or backwards while you are inserting the film holder and setting the shutter.